Gopher Broke & Stop Rushing Three!

Stop Rushing 3 + College In A Breeze

THE SPORTS POTATO

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STOP RUSHING 3! After the Potato wrote a whole paragraph (that’s a lot for the Potato!) on never rushing 3 in big moments it appears my subscriber base has not reached coaches of the NFL and college just yet. The victims this week of rushing 3 were Duke against Notre Dame and the Jets against the Chiefs.

First, the Duke Defensive Coordinator who was aggressive all game (even the announcer comically said it one down earlier!) decides to drop everyone back on 3rd & 18. Then, of course, what happens is the quarterback runs for a first down (18 yards!) before essentially anyone even touches him! How in the world can there be no one even close to the first down line when you’re only rushing 3…

Second, and just 24 hours later, Mahomes and Kansas City do nearly the exact same thing in the Jets game on a rush of 3 at the end. You can never ever rush 3 with Mahomes late - what are you nuts?!

Hmm. What else happened this week... well, Michigan looked really good for the first time all season. Scary good and totally complete – without our best DL, too.

It was Nebraska though, they are a sorta legit program - or at least used to be. Wow, how far has the Big Red fallen - it's embarrassing frankly. This was the BEST program in college football just 30 years ago and now they are literally completely irrelevant. Rhule is a solid coach but I'm not sure he has the Deion cache to get the stars to make Nebraska elite again.

Speaking of Deion, wow those Colorado folks sure like to make college football interesting. While that was a pretty impressive comeback the real story was the USC defense... again. This is just not a team that can win it all with a defense that plays like that. A loss is brewing for the Trojans - two games in a row they just haven't looked very good and eventually it will come back to bite them.

 The top 10 is the most even I've ever seen it. The difference between 1 and 10 this year is like 7 points in the point spread - last year it was like 21 - or somewhere around there - no one really had a chance. Now, you can really go 10-12 teams deep who have a legit shot at the title... it's going to be a fun ride!

This weekend was originally supposed to be quiet but now has 3 huge games of undefeated teams plus a few elimination games as well… buckle up!

COLLEGE IN A BREEZE

Maryland vs. Ohio State - 19.5 – really a barometer game. Is Ohio State for real or is Maryland legit? Fear the turtle. Give me Maryland.

Kentucky vs. Georgia -15 - Georgia hasn’t looked good at all, escaping two games already. Kentucky on the flip side has looked very impressive. This line is fishy but give me Kentucky on a prayer.

Alabama vs. Texas A&M +3.5 – just too few points to not take Bama. If Miami can beat Texas A&M, then Bama can. Give me Bama.

Oklahoma vs. Texas - 6.5 – game of the week, the Red River Shoot Out for the last time in the Big 12. I’m not buying Oklahoma, but I am buying Texas. Give me the Longhorns, winning by double digits.

RYDER CUP

Why is it in October? No one cares about golf anymore. It needs to be the week after the Fed Ex Cup at the latest - half these guys probably went on vacation for a few weeks – at least the Americans did. Yikes - that was awful!

MICHIGAN -19.5 vs MINNESOTA PREDICTION: (4-0-1 so far) Michigan looked super complete against Nebraska, and Nebraska really should have beat Minnesota who just hasn't looked very good this year replacing some key players. I'm not sure why I'm hot on Michigan games but ride the train. Michigan covers again here barely 34-13.

MORTAL LOCK (3-2 so far): Wyoming came up just short which was a bummer. Give me Texas - 6.5 against Oklahoma. I’m not a believer in the Sooners this year so far so let’s see if they prove me wrong.